A Couple’s Journey

Well since we haven’t actually departed yet, we are uncertain of what the costs will actually be.  That still hasn’t stopped us from guestimating what they will be, I would rather overestimate than underestimate.  Hopefully while away we get an administration in the US which will help lift the falling dollar!  It is the reason we are staying away from Europe for now.  

Basically we are hoping to keep under $40k per year for both of us.  Since all of the first year will be spent in Asia that should be plenty.  Whatever is left over will go towards year two (giving us more financial freedom) which will include Australia and New Zealand.  My hope is to keep it under 80k, but we will see.  This will include all food, transportation (pay as we go flights, buses, trains and tuk tuks), lodging and tours (admission costs to museums, parks, etc). 

With this budget it will be about $100 dollars a day.  Luckily for most of Asia will be tough to even get close to this amount, however we plan to do a fair amount of diving along the way.  Our accommodations might be higher than most as we will be looking for private rooms with own bath 95% of the time (5% in case we don’t have a choice).  Also might have to need AC, Maryanne really doesn’t sweat so might be tough for her with only a fan to regulate her body temp in the summers.  So we will have to base rooms on how she copes in the heat.  Also as we get into Micronesia and Polynesia costs will go up we are sure, even if we took ferries as opposed to flying from island to island. 

We really don’t want to limit ourselves to much however would like to save where we can but just not go crazy by being frugal.  So if we can great, but if we want to splurge and enjoy that Starbucks coffee or Bungee jump in NZ knowing we can will help make this trip even better.  For most of the trip we hope to be out of our comfort zone, but for those of you that know us, it will be hard to always do that!  Damn Starbucks why do you have to be so good!!!  Also it will be tough to watch a sunset without a beer or gin and tonic!

Like others on Bootsnall have said once you get out of the vacation mentality and into the long term travel mode, costs will come down.  We may even find that the money spent on Starbucks is not worth it *GASP*!!  In packing up all of our stuff, we have already realized how much money we waste buying “stuff”.  Hopefully this trip teaches us more about the differences between wants and needs!  Mom and Dad would be so proud! YES I am kissing up in case my parents read this 🙂  Yes I am a guy and I love to shop and spend money!  So this trip hopefully will be like one long AA meeting for me.  Others we might go through 80K in 6 months, just kidding, I am not that bad! 

Okay back to the budgeting!  OZ and NZ budget will be interesting for sure.  We haven’t decided on transportation methods yet.  At the moment we are leaning towards Grey Hound for OZ, maybe doing car rentals for a few days just to explore and area before taking the bus to the next city.  We will probably fly to/from Perth, as it would be a really long bus ride.  I usually can entertain myself for hours (just ask Maryanne), but that trip might be tough even for me!  There are so scenic train trips we are looking at but damn if they aren’t expensive!  So we will see.  Also I am sure we will be in Sydney for New Years at some point.  We will probably stay somewhere nice again like the casino.  So that will blow the budget out of the water completely! We stayed there last time and it is such a nice hotel in the quieter Darling Harbor!  Now for NZ we are looking at renting a car/van to explore both islands.  Mostly because there are so many little out of the way areas that are beautiful and you can’t get to them all by bus.  When we met my folks there in 07 they were doing it by car and loved it.  Well we wont be in OZ or NZ till around the end of 2009 so we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Yes I talk a lot, I know!! 

This is about as close as I am probably going to get for a budget, however I hope to keep a more detailed accountant type record while we travel and will share them as we go. 

I will say one more thing though!  Most of the places we have looked at staying that do have private room, own bath and AC average about $30 a night!!  So more money for drinks, I mean cultural experiences! 🙂

Hello all!  Maryanne finally let me write on our blog (okay she showed me how to login to our site).   Of the two of us I am the planner/worrier/anal retentive/retard of our duo.  As for planning, I had it all down pat we were going to go to Thailand for our 3 month dive master internship, then a month each for Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, back to Thailand again to explore the rest of the country, then to Malaysia in Feb 09 for a month, two months in Indonesia, Philippines for 2 months, then Guam, Saipan, Yap, Australia for the 3 months and then New Zealand…..  I was trying to factor in weather, festivals, possibility of shark attacks and the earths rotation.  Maryanne had to remind me this trip was about the freedom to do whatever we want whenever that may be.  So needless to say after some back and forth, I lost that battle. However she did agree to be in Australia and New Zealand for the summer.  So my manhood, head of the household feeling has been restored!

 As for me being the worrier and retard of the group they sometimes go hand in hand.  Never having dived before, I am a little worried about sharks.  I would be less worried if they made an automatic spear-gun holding at least 100 spears!  So while I wait for that to be invented, I decided it would be best to at least of 2 dive knives.  One for each leg!  The theory being, if a shark bites off one of my arms I can still reach a knife with my other arm to fend him off.  Also if somehow my arm gets pinned under a rock or a falling ship I will still be able to cut it off.  Logical right?!?!  It seems I am the only person who thinks this is a good idea!  Well since Maryanne says I can’t wear a chainmail suit, I figure at least the two knives will be acceptable to her.  Sheesh I am just looking out for our safety! 

My anal retentive side may be laughed at by Maryanne; however we have backups for everything.  Deep down I know she is happy I plan for unforeseen things!  Although I did concede that having my passport page and shot record tattooed to my butt might be a little extreme.  I still think it isn’t a half bad idea, although since I hate needles I am happy she talked me out of that one!  Thankfully we still have 92 days left as I am still working on the security option of our trip.   Being forgetful and prone to needing a hospital visit at least twice a year, this will require a lot of planning.

Speaking of hospitals, we are almost done with our visits!  We just had an allergy test for Maryanne, which luckily came back with only minor allergies to things.  Mostly shellfish, but luckily she has only a low tolerance.  This means we won’t need to get the EpiPen, since she will not die if she eats shellfish!  The thought of having to get “Shellfish will kill me!” translated into every language of where we are going was going to be a lot of work!  Luckily we only need to more types of shots Hep A and B, we will start those when we come back from States in April!

I think I have rambled enough for today…  I am just so excited to start our trip!  We are so close, we only have 10 more boxes of stuff going into storage to mail home!